This invention relates to providing information in an elevator and other such personnel transport vehicles.
The impetus for constructing skyscrapers and other high-rise structures lies in providing a more efficient use of real estate, particularly in urban areas where the value of real estate is at a premium. The primary mode of transportation in such structures is the elevator, particularly in buildings having many floors.
Visual information provided in an elevator is generally limited to floor information and passenger instructions in the event of emergency or if assistance is required. An elevator may also include a static placard posting the day""s present and their locations.
This invention features a system for displaying video information to passengers of an elevator in accordance with a play list defining a sequence of messages. The video information messages can include combinations of digital advertising, xe2x80x9creal-timexe2x80x9d general information, as well as, building-related information.
In one aspect of the invention, the system includes an elevator display unit having a display monitor for displaying video information to the passengers, and a local server which, receives scheduling information associated with the video information over a data communication path and, in accordance with the scheduling information, generates a play list used to display at the elevator display unit.
In another aspect of the invention, a method of providing general information and commercial information within an elevator includes the steps of: a) providing to a local server, scheduling information associated with video information to be displayed; b) generating, from the scheduling information, a play list associated with the video information; and c) generating a display for viewing at the elevator display unit within the elevator, the video information at predetermined times in accordance with the scheduling information.
In yet another aspect, the invention is a method of providing video information to a display monitor within an elevator located in a building. The method includes receiving first data defining a category of video information, receiving second data, associated with the category of video information and defining at least one source of the video information; and retrieving from the source, over a data communications path and on the basis of the first data and the second data, the video information to be displayed on the monitor within the elevator. The invention also extends to a system for providing video information by this method.
By xe2x80x9cvideo informationxe2x80x9d, it is meant any combination of general, commercial, and building-related information. By xe2x80x9ccommercial informationxe2x80x9d, it is meant any information relating to commerce and trade including advertisements. xe2x80x9cGeneral informationxe2x80x9d is used here to mean information of general interest, including news (recent happenings, sports, entertainment, etc.) and weather. General information can also include information associated with the building within which the elevator is a part, for example, 1) events associated with the building; 2) traffic; 3) transportation schedules (e.g., train/shuttle services). By xe2x80x9cbuilding-related informationxe2x80x9d, it is meant that information specifically related to the particular building where the elevators transport residents, tenants, and visitors of the building. The building-related information may include certain types of commercial information, such as advertising for businesses within or local to the building (e.g., coffee, shop, parking, florist), as well as announcements by building management for available space within the building. The building-related information can also include forms of general information, particularly relevant to the building and its elevator passengers. For example, such information can include building activities (e.g., holiday events, fire alarm testing), public address/emergency messages, traffic information, and other information useful to the elevator""s passengers. In general, the building-related information is less limited by the type of information, and more by its geography.
With this system, advertisers, online content providers, and building management/owners can interact with a specific, well-defined, and targeted audience in an elevator, a setting where passengers often feel uncomfortable being confined with complete strangers. Elevator passengers often seek ways to avoid making eye contact with fellow passengers during what feels like an endless, unnerving duration of time. Passengers no longer need to stare aimlessly at the floor or ceiling, but have an informative media resource to watch.
Occupants of high-rise office buildings are typically business people with understood interests and buying tendencies. These people are ideal recipients for targeted content and advertising. The system allows content providers (e.g., local and national news sources) and advertisers to selectively target audiences based on the demographics of a building, city, region, business segment, etc. Similarly, national, regional, and local online content providers are afforded an opportunity to provide elevator passengers with information of general interest. The system also provides building owners and managers the ability to provide video information particularly relevant and useful to tenants and visitors of their buildings.
Embodiments of these aspects of the invention may include one or more of the following features.
The local server receives the scheduling information from the production server over a data communication network (e.g., the Internet).
The system also includes a production server which generates scheduling information associated with the general and commercial information. Thus, the production server serves as a central distribution site where, among other things, the scheduling information (e.g., building play lists or scripts) are generated. The production server includes a production server database for storing building-related data, general information-related data, and commercial information-related data. This database includes, for example, building characterization data, as well as the addresses from where the general and commercial information can be retrieved over the data communication path.
The production server includes a scheduling module, which retrieves the data from the production server database and generates the scheduling information and a building loader interface through which data is passed between the production server and the local server. The building loader interface encrypts the data passed between the production server and the local server and authenticates that the local server is one associated with the system.
The production server includes a billing module, which generates documentation relating to the duration of time the general information and commercial information is displayed at elevator display unit. A database maintenance module is also included within the production server to update the production center database with information relating to elevator occupancy as a function of time.
The local server communicates with the elevator display unit via a local area network including local and general information databases and a scheduling information parser. General information and commercial information retrieved over the data communication path are cached in respective ones of the local and general information databases. The scheduling information parser generates a local building play list from the scheduling information retrieved from the production server.
The local area network includes an Ethernet path for connection to the elevator display unit. The elevator display unit further includes an occupancy detector for determining, at predetermined intervals, the number of occupants riding within a particular elevator.
Generating the elevator play list is performed with a graphical user interface.
For the BOM interface, the video information includes a text message (e.g., in HTML format) and the play list includes a start date on which the text message is displayed on the display monitor; an end date on which the text message is displayed on the display monitor; and a day segment indicating a portion of a day the text message is displayed on the display monitor.
The user interface is remote from said local server and communicates with said local server over a data communications path, such as the Internet, a dial-up modem, or a local area network. The play list is a building operations play list, with the video information and scheduling information for generating the building operations play list relating to building operations.
The local server further receives a production server play list from a production server, remote from said local server, over a data communication network, said production server play list associated with general and commercial information for display on the display unit. The local server includes a parser, which generates a local building play list from the production server play list and the building operations play.
Other features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the claims.